New Year's Resolution
by hopeletgo
Summary: Troy's new year's resolution causes some problems for him and Gabriella. One shot. Prompt from Jule FF. Please Read and Review.


**New Year's Resolution, bathtub, broken finger, earring**

New Year's resolution: Tell Gabriella that you love her.

You see, he had been dating her for six months now and if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he loved Gabriella Montez. Now, actually telling her his feelings, that was another sort of problem.

Every time, he got ready to finally say those three words, he had chickened out. He wanted into to be at just the right time. He had stopped trying to figure out when that would be and decided to wait for it to present itself. However, that had yet to happen and Troy was simply tired of waiting.

He would scream it from the rooftops if he thought it would do him any good. The thing about Gabi is she wasn't really into grand romantic gestures. She had told him she would rather have things simple and small, as those are usually the gestures that mean more.

In his head, the plan was perfect.

He would set up a table for two on the rooftop, which would be little with dozens of strands of twinkling lights. He had have Zeke whip up some delicious meal and then the moment was right he would tell her. Gabi would absolutely love it.

* * *

She slipped out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around her head like a turban, and slipped into the fuzzy green robe, her mother had given to her for Christmas. Troy had told her to be ready by 7:15 and it was currently…6:18, giving her plenty of time to get ready.

She opened her closet doors and stared at all the hanging clothes. She knew Troy would not care what she was wearing. She could wear baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt, and he would still tell her that she was beautiful. The way Troy made it sound tonight called for something special, so she flipped through her closet until she found what she was looking for: a simple black, tea length dress, with a white sash that tied in the back.

It was 7:10 when she was finally ready and she was expecting Troy any minute now. She waited to hear the chime of the front door but instead she heard the rustle of the tree outside her window.

She stepped out on her balcony to investigate and much to her surprise she found Troy climbing up the branches.

"Troy, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm climbing up to your balcony."

"I can see that and why are doing such a thing?"

"I wanted to surprise you. Besides, it's more romantic this way."

"It won't be very romantic if you fall and break an arm or a leg."

"Don't worry, Gabi, I'm not gonna---"

Troy's foot slipped and he went tumbling down to the ground.

"See what I said," she mumbled to herself as she went to check on Troy.

She found him sprawled out below the tree. She quickly rushed over to him, kneeling down beside his body.

"Troy? Trooooy?"

He blinked and looked up at her.

"You okay? Anything broken?"

"I don't think so," he said, as he sat up. His vision tilted and he put a head to his head. "Whoa"

"You sure? You fell pretty far…"

"I'm fine, just sat up too quickly."

She eyed him suspiciously, noticing the thinly veiled grimace of pain.

"I'm okay, Gabi. Not a scratch on me." he said, extending his left arm out to prove his point. However, she noticed that his right arm was still cradled against his chest.

"If you're ready, I think it's time we leave." He said, his eyes begging her to believe him and move on without any more questions.

"I just have to grab my coat and purse and we can go to….where are we going again?"

"Now if I told you that I wouldn't need this." He answered, pulling a blue blindfold out of his pocket."

"That's a blindfold."

"Why, yes it is. I always knew I'd picked one of the smart girls."

"Ha-ha, you're so funny. Are you going to blindfold me or not?"

"So demanding." he chuckled, as he unsuccessfully tried to tie it around her head with one hand.

She grabbed the cloth from his hands, "Here, let me do it since you seem to be having some trouble."

He swatted her hand away gently. "Not so fast. How do I know that it will be tight enough? I don't want you cheating now."

"Just give me the blindfold, Troy."

"Again with the demands…" He said as he handed the blue material.

She quickly tied the blindfold, making sure it was tight enough to pass Troy's specifications. He checked it over anyway.

"Looks good, you can't see a thing correct?"

"Yes, Troy, now can we hurry up and get to the actual surprise?"

"As you wish." he replied, steering her to his truck and helping her in before getting in the driver's seat.

* * *

Within 10 minutes, they arrived at their destination.

"Can I take off this blindfold now?" she said, already trying to push it off.

He gently reached over and pulled her hands from the blindfold. "No, that would ruin the surprise."

She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Not much longer, I promise." He whispered into her ear. He then got out of the car, helped her out onto the ground, and began steering her to the front of the school. He pulled the keys to the school out of his pocket (courtesy of his father of course).

He steered her through the long hallway to the bottom of the stairs.

"Why did we stop?"

"You can take off the blindfold now."

She quickly untied the knot in the back and removed the blindfold. "Troy, we're at the school."

"Yes"

"Let me rephrase: Why are we at the school?"

"You'll see." he said, as he grabbed her and slowly began moving up the stairs.

When they reached the top of stairs, Gabriella gasped. "Oh, Troy, it's beautiful"

"You like it?" he asked, grinning.

"I love it." She said, before giving him a kiss "When did you have time to do all this?"

"What did you think I was doing all day?"

"Not this, that's for sure."

"I'm glad you like it. Shall we eat?" he said, pulling the chair for her to sit.

"This looks delicious." She said as he pushed in her chair "Zeke make this?"

"Is that a poke at my cooking skills?"

"Absolutely, sorry Troy but we all know that you're ability in the kitchen doesn't go much farther than PB&J sandwiches."

"You said you liked my sandwiches."

"I do, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate something more...shall I say...fancy."

"Well, I'll be sure to tell Zeke you enjoyed it."

She noticed Troy had yet to take a bite. "Aren't you going to eat anything?"

"I'm not really hungry, right now, maybe later." He answered.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, why would anything be wrong?"

"Because in the entire time I've know you, you have never once turned down food."

"And your point is?'

"My point is it's not normal and with what happened earlier, I'm just worried."

"What happened earlier?"

She smirked.

"Gabi, I'm fine. I appreciate your concern, but I'm just fine."

"You would tell me if you weren't though, right?"

"Of course. Now are you ready for your next surprise."

"You mean there's more?"

"Of course there is." He said as he pulled a small black box out of his pocket.

Her eyes grew big as she realized what he was pulling out of his pocket.

"Troy, I can't…"

"You can't what?" he noticed the panicked look in her eye "Oh, god, no, it's not that. I wouldn't…I couldn't…I mean, not right now…oh just take it."

She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding and took the box from his hand. She gently flipped open the box, revealing a stunning pair of earrings. Each earring was tiny heart with the letters TG inside.

"I thought you might need a pair to match your necklace."

"Troy, these are amazing. Where did you find them?"

"My dad knows a guy who knows a guy who makes custom jewelry. I showed him my design, we planned out the exact details, and now you have earrings made just for you."

"Thank you. For all of this." She said softly, her eyes filling with tears.

He smiled, reached with his hand cupping her face, stroking her check with the pad of his thumb and kissed her sweetly. "You're welcome."

"Would you help put them on?" she asked.

He closed his eyes. The thought of moving sent his stomach to his throat. His head had begun to throb, halfway through dinner. He was sure standing would send his world into a dizzying spiral. "Sure"

He moved to stand, slowly, making sure he had a stable grip on the table. As soon as he was standing, the world began spinning in an alarming pace. He shut his eyes, trying to fight off the waves of dizziness crashing into him.

"Troy?" she asked, noticing his iron grip on the table, and the pained grimace that had formed on his face. She moved towards him and gently touched his arm.

A new wave of fresh pain washed over him as her touch sent his arm into fiery agony. He was losing control; he could feel his grip on consciousness fading and soon the blackness enveloped him.

* * *

He awoke to bright lights and the smell of antiseptic. He closed his eyes again realizing where he was.

"Not so fast, Romeo. You don't get to pass out in the middle of our date without an explanation."

"Huh?" he turned his head, only to regret the movement as the dull ache began to make itself known.

"Why did you lie to me?"

He was saved as a nurse walked in the room.

"Mr. Bolton, it's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts." He answered honestly.

"I imagine; you've got yourself quite a concussion. Now, I need you to answer some questions, just to make sure everything's okay with that head of yours."

Gabriella smiled and held back a laugh.

"What is your name?"

"Troy Bolton."

"What year were you born?"

"April 24th, 1989."

"Last one: What year is it?"

"2008."

"Good, now we are keeping you here for observation. Have your parents been notified?"

"Troy! Are you okay? We came as soon as we could." Lucille said, as she sat down on the edge of bed, softly brushing the hair off his forehead.

"I'm fine, Mom. Just a concussion."

"Don't forget the fractured wrist and 3 broken fingers." Gabriella added.

Troy looked down at his arm, which was in a fresh cast. "And that…"

"So, Doc, when can we take him home?" Jack asked.

"As I was telling Troy here, we are keeping him overnight for observation. We want to make sure there are no complications caused by the concussion. If you two would come with me, there are some papers we need you to sign."

"We'll be back soon, sweetie." His mother said placing a kiss on his forehead, and following her husband and the doctor out of the room.

He looked over at Gabriella.

Her head was hung and her shoulders slumped. When she lifted her eyes to meet his, they were filled with tears.

"Listen, Gabi.."

"Why did you lie to me, Troy? You promised you would tell me if something was wrong." A few tears fell.

"I'm sorry, Gabi. I shouldn't have done that. I just didn't want to ruin our date."

"So hiding your injuries and passing out that was better?"

He smiled sadly "I guess not; I wasn't thinking straight"

"You weren't thinking. God, Troy, do you know how awful it is to see the person you love most in the world to just drop to the ground in front of you?! I've never been so scared in my entire life." The tears that she'd been fighting began to pour from her face.

"Come here, Gabi."

She didn't hesitate and crawled into his open arm. He began to stroke her hair soothingly whispering, "I'm okay, everything's going to be alright. I love you, I'm not going anywhere."

His hand froze as he realized what he had just said. She lifted her head from its resting spot. "What did you say?"

"I love you?" he replied reluctantly.

A watery smile came across her face, "I love you, too."

He pulled her closer and she snuggled into his chest, intertwining her fingers with him. They sat there is a comfortable silence as the moment washed over them.

"Troy?"

He was almost asleep again. "Yeah?"

"Next time you want to be romantic, use the front door."

He smiled as sleep overtook him once again.


End file.
